Standardization is on the horizon for LTE to operate in a peer-to-peer mode known as LTE Direct (LTE-D) that involves discovery and a mode of operation involving the so-called "ambient awareness". This is expected to be a novelty at first but quickly evolve into a new ecosystem that is at once complementary and competitive to the current cellular ecosystem.

There are a number of additional technologies that may also be deployed that all provide the ability for devices to "discover" one another, although over different distances ranging from centimeters (Near Field Communications), meters (Bluetooth), 10s of meters (Wi-Fi), and some that vary (beacon technologies).